Somehow You
by xXDonnaTylerXx
Summary: "You were born from one of the most complex and intelligent machines ever created, and built by Time Lords.You really expect us to believe you can't tell the difference between past and future?" The Doctors realise that the Moment took the form of Rose Tyler not by chance, but for one very particular reason: to bring her back to them. Reunion fic set during The Day of the Doctor.
1. Chapter 1

**First story in a very long time! I've got a renewed love for Doctor Who since the 50th, which was brilliant, and I thought it would be the perfect starting point for a reunion story! So here we go, there will be two chapters to this, and it's set during The day of the Doctor starting from the first mention of Rose by the War Doctor. Pleeeeease do take a minute to review, ti'll give me so much motivation to get the next chapter up and I really want to know what you lovely people think! Thanks, Donna x**

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Chapter One

"Oh, Bad Wolf girl, I could kiss you!"

The Doctor's hearts stopped. All four of them. Their heads whipped round to look at each other for a fraction of a second, before both men turned towards their earlier incarnation, their folded arms and their dark expressions identical.

"I'm sorry, Grandad, did you just say _Bad Wolf?"_ It was Eleven who managed to speak up first.

"Well... Yes," The War Doctor looked a little alarmed, clearly having not expected such a strong reaction from his future selves, "She - Oh, now how did she describe it - She's the interface, the human projection of the Moment that appeared when-"

"But where did those two words come from?" Ten interrupted him, his eyes alight with something desperate, "Why Bad Wolf, why would she...? How can...?"

The Eleventh Doctor sighed. Witnessing his earlier sadness, seeing with his own eyes how raw and new the pain of losing her still was for his tenth incarnation was stirring up feelings inside him that he'd been forced to bury. Hundreds of years it had been since he'd lost her, but the memory of her face was as new as if he'd seen her yesterday. She was the one he'd broken all the rules for, the one who'd changed him, and sacrificed everything for him. And most heartbreaking of all, if she were to appear in front of him now, she wouldn't even recognise him.

"Tell me." The Tenth Doctor was demanding, "_Tell me what you mean."_Eleven could sense his younger self's temper rising out of the mix of sheer panic and hope that was coursing through him, and decided to step in.

"Ok, so the interface," he rationed with the War Doctor slowly, placing his hand on Ten's arm in a gesture that silently told him _calmer is better. You'll learn that soon,_"She's taken the form of a woman? Describe her to me. Us."

"Erm," The War Doctor hesitated, looking from the Moment to the Doctors, "She looks about... Thirty?"

"Offensive." The Moment frowned.

"Twenty five, I meant twenty five!" He hurriedly corrected, "She's blonde and curly, sort of.. Hazel eyes, but sometimes gold..."

"Gold." Ten muttered, barely loud enough for Eleven to hear, "That'll be why it's _Bad Wolf_and not Rose..."

"She's got on sort of raggedy clothes..."

"Oi! Earth fashions can be strange, you know, I was doing the best I can!" She insisted, and the War Doctor turned to face her frustratedly.

"Well I don't know, do I?" He demanded, suddenly conscious that to everyone else in the room he was speaking to thin air, "You're not making this very easy for me, you know. I can barely understand what you are, let alone explain it to these two crazy children!"

The beautiful projection sighed, rolling her eyes. "I suppose you're right. I suppose it would be easier for everyone if I can just extend the field of..." She shook herself a little, apparently concentrating, "Wow, this is _hard..._"

"I can't really understand what she's saying," The War Doctor sighed, "Talking about extending something, but if you lot still can't see her-" He had turned to face the two other Doctors, and froze at their matching expressions as they focussed on a point over his shoulder. He glanced around, and saw the Moment looking between the two of them with a cheeky smirk threatening to break out. She'd done it, then.

"You." The Tenth Doctor's whisper was hoarse, "You... You're here."

"Yes, I am!" She sounded gleeful, hopping down from her perch, "And I'm _awfully_glad you two recognise me. I was worried I'd got it more mixed up than I thought and chosen someone none of you had met! Ha!" She began to walk toward the two older Doctors, but the two of them remained still.

"The voice." Eleven said sharply, "You haven't got her voice right. Much too... formal. Proper."

"Well, _sorry._" She was still grinning as she stopped in front of them, "Even so, I thought you two would have been a little more pleased to see me!" Her tongue poked out slightly between her teeth as she addressed the Tenth Doctor, "Especially you."

"Indeed." He sniffed, swiftly looking her up and down before turning to Eleven, "So. I'm surprised you can remember her voice."

Eleven's eyes flared, "I'm surprised you thought me capable of ever forgetting it."

"You seem to have forgotten everything else-"

"Not her." He cut Ten off firmly, "Never her. Not for anything."

"Hell_ooo_?" The Interface wiggled her fingers at them, "I'm still here."

"Except you're not." Eleven said, "You're a projection from a piece of technology, and I'd like to know why you chose the form of someone very dear to me to try and convince a man who hasn't met you yet."

"I told him!" Her tone was still light despite the grim expressions of the Doctors, "I got it mixed up! Couldn't figure out who was past and present, that's all, so I just picked the most important one-"

"No." Ten insisted, "I'm sorry, but you were born from one of the most complex and intelligent machines ever created, and built by _Time Lords._You really expect us to believe you can't tell the difference between past and future?"

"_And,"_ added Eleven, "Tell us why you said Bad Wolf. Why not just R- Why not just her name?" The Tenth Doctor frowned sideways at him, taken aback at the fact his future self hadn't even been able to say her name. Could it really still hurt that much in four hundred years?

The Moment took a deep breath, her smile now wiped and replaced with a look of irritation.

"Alright. So I knew he hadn't met Rose Tyler yet, you've got me there. I didn't choose her to..." She sighed, biting her lip slightly, "I didn't choose her to convince him. I picked her to convince you two."

"And how on Gallifrey did you think that was going to work?" Eleven's voice was light, but dangerous.

"You _need_her." The Moment insisted, "You're right! I am the most intelligent technology there is, but even I can't achieve the impossible without a little help. And that's why I chose her. Because by taking her form, I created a mental link between me and her. I can only access very limited memories and feelings, but I know who she is, and I know _where_she is. And I know that she's all alone... But without taking her form, without becoming an image of the Bad Wolf with all the power she has inside her, I would never have been able to make the link strong enough to do it."

"Strong enough to do _what_?" Eleven asked, at the exact same moment as Ten demanded "What do you mean, she's all alone?"

The Moment's weak smile had returned as she looked at the two panicked men, "I needed the link to be able to do this. You two had better thank me later."

She squeezed her eyes shut, concentrating hard, her expression twisting into one of apparent pain.

"Is she alright?" Clara's eyes were wide, "What's happening? Doctor?" But she received no response, as the Interface finally let out an enormous exhale and the image of her dissolved into millions of specks of gold. In her place, a few feet above their heads, was another wormhole, exactly like the ones they had all passed through.

The two Doctors' mouths dropped open, but there was no time for Clara to marvel once again at their similarities before they were whispering hurriedly to each other.

"Do you think she-"

"No, It's not possible."

"Not possible for us, but with the amount of power the machine has-"

"And the connection she created plus the TARDIS energy of the Bad Wolf-"

"Maybe she-"

"But how will we know how- OW!"

The Eleventh Doctor reeled as something dropped through the wormhole and hit him sharply on the head. With a low grumble of "Nearly poked my eye out, flipping thing," he bent to retrieve the offending item: A paper aeroplane.

"Someone's got a sense of humour." He said as he opened it up, holding it so that the Tenth Doctor could also see. Their eyes widened as they read the hastily scrawled note:

_I can hear voices through this thing, but I can't tell. If it's somehow you, Doctor, speak to me. Please, please speak to me._

"That handwriting." A wide smile was emerging on the Tenth Doctor's face, "You remember that too?"

Eleven grinned, his reply sounding uncannily like his old self, "Oh, yes!" And without hesitating, he moved to the very bottom of the wormhole, cupping his hands around his mouth as if he were about to shout... But then he stopped. And when he turned back around to face his previous incarnation, his face was sombre and his voice tight.

"Not me." He said quietly, swallowing, "It can't be me. She won't recognise my voice, she doesn't... It'll be you that she wants."

And despite the fact that he was possibly about to communicate with Rose, Ten felt an overwhelming sadness at his future self's honesty. Placing a hand on Eleven's shoulder, he nodded slowly, unable to fathom a reply, before he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted.

"Rose?!" His voice was loud, clear, and full of hope, "Rose, can you hear me?"

The second it took for her to reply felt like a decade.

"Doctor?!"

The Tenth Doctor couldn't help it; he let out a laugh, a hearty, uncontrollable laugh that could only come from the impossible being realised. "Rose! Rose, it's me, it's really me!"

"Oh, my god!" Her voice was thick with emotion as it echoed from the hole. Eleven couldn't take it. Unnoticed by his younger self, who was giddily shouting for her to come through, he stumbled backwards to lean against the platform where the Moment had sat, bringing a hand to his face and letting out one silent but utterly desperate sob.

As always, Clara was by his side in an instant, gently prising his hand away, and he moved to lean his forehead against hers as she wiped a tear from his face.

"I know, Doctor."

"You do?" He whispered, his thousand-year-old face resembling that of a desperate little boy, and she nodded slightly.

"I was there. I saw her in your time stream... I saw you lose her. I know what this means."

All he could do was nod and squeeze the hand of his best friend, infinitely appreciating her presence but not needing to say a word to show it. Wiping his eyes with his other hand, he stood up, still tightly gripping Clara's hand, and watched as a figure fell, so quickly that she was just a blur of blonde hair, out of the wormhole and landed straight in the arms of the man in the pinstripe suit.

The Tenth Doctor couldn't believe it. There weren't any words to describe his emotion as he lowered her to her feet, as he and Rose Tyler silently looked one another up and down for a few seconds before throwing themselves straight back into each others' arms. She squealed, tears running down her smiling face as she pulled back to look at him, forcing herself to speak.

"It's really you." She managed in wonder, and the Doctors couldn't help but beam at hearing her real voice, Ten from a few inches away and Eleven from across the room. The lump in his throat made it impossible to speak, his hand shaking violently in Clara's as he clutched it tightly and continued to watch.

"Oh, yes!" Ten beamed down at her, "And I can't even tell you how much I've missed you. We've got some long stories to catch up on!" He looked up at the wormhole, which was beginning to fade - the Moment had clearly only intended it to be open for one purpose.

"Am I not coming through with you, then?" He asked, "I'm quite intrigued to know how my little metacrisis is getting along! Is he-?" The Doctor stopped abruptly as he looked down to see that Rose's expression had changed to utter misery.

"He…" She swallowed, "You're not coming. He's not coming. I can't explain it here." She exhaled, and fixed a smile firmly back on her face as she observed her surroundings for the first time. The Doctor knew not to ask now.

"Speaking of here, where on Earth am I?" She noticed the War Doctor, Clara, and finally, the Eleventh Doctor. "I'm so rude! I'm Rose Tyler; I'd explain what I'm doing here but I'm haven't got a clue myself!"

The Tenth Doctor watched her approach them, keeping his eye firmly on his future incarnation, who was deathly pale and breathing heavily. Their eyes met, and Ten could sense that he was about to attempt something supposedly noble and selfless but incredibly stupid.

"Nice to meet you," Eleven managed, "This is Clara Oswald, and I'm-" He was about to introduce himself as someone else, John Smith perhaps, and he was going to do it for Ten. But he wouldn't let him.

"He's me, Rose." Ten looked his future self in the eye, and saw the same emotions flooding through him as he felt himself – if not, if it were possible, stronger, having been amplified by an extra four hundred years of missing her.

The Eleventh Doctor's breath hitched in his throat as Rose's mouth fell open. Their eyes met, and it was all he could do not to throw himself at her.

"I…" He sighed, "He's right. I am him. Or I was. Or he'll be me… Or something." _Lame, lame, lame! _He thought as Rose studied him, her eyes roaming his face, his hair, his body, before meeting his eyes again and nodding, very, very slowly.

"I know." She looked a little surprised with herself, "I… As soon as I saw you, I don't know, I could just…"

"Well, I'm glad you could…" The two of them were doing so badly at forming proper sentences that eventually, at the exact same moment, they both gave in, and rushed forward to embrace, holding each other so tightly that the three people watching them were surprised they could breathe.

"How long have you waited for me?" Rose whispered into the Eleventh Doctor's ear, "How long has it been?"

"Oh, far, far too long." Was his whispered response, and she squeezed him a little tighter, pressing a kiss behind his ear that no-one else could see before finally pulling away.

Rose wiped a tear from her cheek, smiling again as she approached Clara. "I'm sorry to be so dramatic!" She joked, clasping the other woman's hand, "It's so nice to meet you." She turned then to the final person in the room, cocked her head to one side, and exclaimed, "And another one! Are you…?"

"I came before." He smiled as he shook her hand, "And I'm terribly sorry, Miss Tyler, but I have no recollection of you whatsoever!"

"Well, you've got a lot to look forward to, is all I'll say!" Rose grinned, before turning back to face Ten.

"Alright, the reunions can wait for now. A sparkly gold light coming from my eyes in the mirror, a wormhole between parallel universes, three Doctors, three TARDISes, and," She gestured, "To top it all off, _a great big threatening button_… Who'd like to explain what we're here to do?"

"Well," The Tenth Doctor started, "I think I've just worked out the last piece of the puzzle. We're here to do what the Bad Wolf wanted, which is why it was so crucial that you were here." Rose narrowed her eyes, confused, and turned to Eleven for an explanation.

"_The Time War Ends. _That's what you said, when you were her. All that energy, all that healing…" He beamed, "Rose Tyler… Bad Wolf… We're here to save Gallifrey."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the lovely response to the first chapter! I was planning on only having two chapters but when I finished the story it seemed better to split it into two more, so there will be three in total :) Please _please _do let me know what you think in a review, it means the world to me. Many many thanks, enjoy chapter two! Donna x**

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Chapter Two

And save it they did. Rose didn't have time to revel in the moment she stepped back inside the TARDIS, _her _Doctor's TARDIS after so long, so caught up were they in their plan. She closed her eyes as the Doctors worked together, communicating through the speaker, unable to believe her luck that she was actually back. The worrying thought had just occurred to her that she had no idea what she was supposed to do next, when a new voice joined the swarm of others and promptly pushed all other thoughts out of her head.

"And for my next trick…!"

Her head snapped up, a wide smile spreading across her face as she let out a squeal. It had been so long since she'd heard the familiar northern accent that she loved so much, the voice belonging to her first Doctor. The man who'd told her to _run _and had never let her look back since.

When it was finally over, when they'd done everything they could, both the Doctor and Rose let out a huge sigh of relief, pulling each other once more into a hug. God, she'd missed him.

"Did you hear him?" Rose asked him gleefully, and he nodded.

"Yep! I miss him, sometimes. Being him. I seemed to get away with being a lot _ruder._"

"Oh, I dunno," She teased, "You've got your good points too, Doctor. Is it still Doctor? There's so many of you now I feel like you should have a different name! Shall I just call you 'Ten?'" He pulled a face.

"God, no. Chinny, bless him, has taken to calling me _sandshoes, _but that won't stick. They're trainers, for god's sake…"

Rose spluttered at the name _Chinny, _but then her face quickly dropped as the reality of the situation hit her. After so long, she was back in her universe, without any explanation, and no idea what was going to happen to her. Suddenly, she wasn't so elated any more, and sank down into the chair next to the console.

"So." Her voice was quiet, "I guess now… Now we talk?"

"Yeah I guess so." The Doctor nodded gravely, "Where do we start?" Rose looked up at him.

"We start where it ended. _Dalig Ulv Stranden._ Can I ask you honestly, Doctor… Did you know it was going to happen?" Looking puzzled, he shook his head, indicating for her to elaborate. She took a deep breath.

"Did you know that you… That my Doctor, my human Doctor… Did you know that he was going to die?"

"I…" The Doctor sighed, "I hoped that I was wrong. The answer to your question is no, when I left you with him I didn't know. I would never have done it otherwise. I wanted you to be happy, for us to have a life together, and that was the way of giving it to you." His eyes filled slightly with tears, "But when it happened to Donna-"

Rose's hand flew to her mouth, "Oh, my god, did she-?"

"No, she's not dead." He consoled her, "But she would have been. I had to take her memories, everything about me and you and all of us… It all had to go."

"I'm so sorry. But I'm so glad, too, that she's not dead. You – my human you, that is, worked it out as well, what was going to happen to him. It was horrific, obviously, but we kind of managed to make peace with it, because we knew it was coming. But his biggest fear was that Donna was dead. She was his other half, you know? And we had no way of knowing whether you had saved her from the same thing that happened to him. I just wish I could tell him that she's okay. But," she looked down at the grated floor, "It's a bit late now."

"A human-time lord metacrisis is impossible, Rose." The Doctor reached for her hand, "I'm so, so genuinely sorry that I didn't work that out before. When… When did he…?"

"A year ago. Not too long, but as I say, we knew it was coming. The time we had together was perfect, and he made sure to do as much research as he could on how I could travel back here after it happened. So that we could still be together."

"Were you and him-"

"Yes. I mean," Rose smiled weakly at him, "We weren't married or anything, there's no way you or him or any Doctor would give in to the domestic that easily! But yeah. We were together in a way that me and you weren't."

"Well, you can rest assured that whatever work he did, it would have helped a lot; made it much easier for the Moment to create a wormhole through the void as she did. None of it was in vain." The Doctor ran his hand through his hair, "And Rose… About… The way you were together with him. It's not that I didn't want- I mean, you know how I-"

"You don't have to make excuses, Doctor." Rose reached up to cup his cheek, "We thought we had all the time in the universe. I _know _how complicated it is for you with humans. Even if you did…" She hesitated, "Love me, then I know we couldn't have had that kind of life together. I was just a bit younger, and a bit too stupid to see it then."

"Never stupid, Rose. Just so very _human._" The Doctor frowned slightly, "Speaking of which… You said you had gold light coming from your eyes before the wormhole appeared?"

"Yeah, it looked… I don't know, it's scary, but it actually looked like you do right before you regenerate. Like the same kind of energy."

"I suspected so."

"Suspected what?"

"Bad Wolf." He said simply. "I told you about what happened, didn't I, after you looked into the heart of the TARDIS. You connected with her, then, she gave you power you couldn't handle and so I had to absorb it. But I think there's quite a bit of it left behind, Rose. I think you're something different now."

Her eyes widened in panic, "Oh, my god, like a metacrisis? Is the same thing going to happen to me as the Doctor and Don-"

"No!" He insisted, "God no, I'm not trying to scare you. I just think your connection with her is still there." The Doctor patted the console, "I just think that she's never going to let anything happen to you. I mean, look at you. It's been years since that happened and you haven't aged a day."

Rose nodded, "I did notice that. My mother has never been more jealous of anyone!" She laughed, "So, then… In a perfect world, that would be that, wouldn't it! I'm here, not aging, and you're here, unable to die, and we're in our universe, in our TARDIS…" Her voice was bittersweet now, and thick with emotion. "In a perfect world, we wouldn't have to go to the gallery now, would we."

"No." The Doctor swallowed, "We wouldn't. But I think if the story of you and me has taught us anything, Rose, it's that we don't live in that world. We live in this one… And in this world, the rest of my life in this body is fixed in time. I carry on, not that I know how long for, and then at some point I'm killed, and I regenerate into him. Into chinny chin chin." He smiled sadly, holding both of her hands.

"And you have to do it without me." He nodded.

"Yes, I do. If you stay with me now, then events will happen differently, and I won't become him and we won't save my planet and… Oh, you know. Timey wimey paradox. The fact is, I'm not with you for the rest of this body's life. I'm not with you when I regenerate, and if we try and force it then the likelihood is the universe will split us up a different way. And I can't let that happen. I need to know you're safe."

Rose nodded sadly. As awful as it was to find this Doctor again and have to leave him, the truth was she had experienced his regeneration before, and had been able to get used to it. She knew that this was what needed to happen, that she couldn't stay with an earlier version of him… And besides. She'd had too physical a relationship with the man who looked and acted exactly like the Tenth Doctor to be able to go back to just being friends. It was too much.

"Do you think he'll want me?" She bit her lip, "I mean… It's been four hundred years for him…"

"And I know he's missed you for every single day of them." The Doctor said firmly. "I saw his face when he heard _Bad Wolf, _I know everything he felt when he saw you again. I saw how tightly he held you, and I know he never, ever wants to let you go again. Because he feels exactly the same way about you as I do, Rose. I promise you that."

"And…" Rose knew she was pushing her luck here, "What is that feeling?"

The Doctor tried to contain himself, but it was too much, and a single sob escaped from him before he could help it. "Don't make me say it, Rose, _please._"

She nodded, holding back tears herself at the sight of his crumpled face, and hurriedly pulled him into her, holding him tightly as he buried his face in her neck. They stood for a few minutes, wanting to make the most of every second together… And Rose wasn't sure how it happened, but slowly their faces were turned towards each other, and then their lips were touching even though neither of them had initiated it, and then, somehow, she was experiencing the most mind-blowing kiss of her life without any knowledge of how it had happened.

But they made the most of it. And when it was over, prompted by the bump of the TARDIS landing, they pulled back with traces of smiles rather than sorrow.

"This isn't goodbye." She insisted, stroking his cheek, "You'll be fine now, because you know for a fact you're going to be with me again. It's only a couple of hundred years."

"I know." He nodded, not having the heart to tell her that soon, he would have forgotten every single part of this day. "Not long at all. I'd wait forever for you, Rose, but I'm really very glad that I don't have to."


	3. Chapter 3

**Here we go with the third and final chapter! Your feedback and favouriting has been overwhelming, I didn't expect so many people to read this and I'm so glad you have. I would LOVE to know what people thought of the last chapter/the story as a whole in a review. I don't know whether I'll be writing anything else soon but you never know, and there's nothing more motivating than comments :) Enjoy! Donna x**

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Chapter Three

"Ahhh, here they come!" Eleven jumped up from the bench in the middle of the gallery as his old TARDIS materialised between the two that already stood there. He kept his tone light, but truthfully had been willing them to arrive every second since he and Clara had, not being able to believe that Rose was really back until he saw it with his own eyes.

But there she was, stepping out of the TARDIS and smiling at him, and he couldn't help but grin back at her like a lovestruck idiot. As Ten emerged behind her, his grin grew wider, and he clapped his hands with a gleeful "I beat you here! My ship's faster than yours!"

"OI!" Ten sounded painfully like Donna, "Just because you've got yourself a swanky new desktop doesn't mean-"

"Oh, so childish." Their younger incarnation cut them off with a grumbling sigh, "I still refuse to believe that I've got years to come in your mad little bodies, but I guess I'd better embrace it." He had begun to walk slowly back towards his TARDIS, but stopped as he reached it, and turned back.

"I'm not going to remember this, am I?" He asked sadly, and the Eleventh Doctor shook his head.

"I'm afraid not." Rose's eyes widened, and she barely listened to the Doctor as he explained why.

"So…" She questioned, addressing Eleven once the War Doctor had left, "You don't remember this from last time?"

He pulled a face, "Hmmmm. Bits and bobs. I can't remember specifics, rather hazy little flashes… I remembered the fez – not that I could forget that - then this me falling in through the wormhole, and then I remember insulting Elizabeth… but after we followed him to where the Moment was, there aren't any concrete memories. No, don't look at me like that, now." The oldest Doctor had crossed the room in two strides to tip her chin gently up towards him and look seriously into her eyes. "Because I'll tell you one thing that I've never worked out until now. Until this point ," He gestured to his Tenth incarnation, "I had all but given up hope of seeing you again. Pushed it away to the back of my head in a little no-go zone… But after this day, my faith comes back. I'll never remember why, until now, but I'll know, deep down inside, that I'm waiting for you, and that you're coming back to be with me." Rose smiled up at him, and in a second, his face changed to one of worry.

"You… You are coming with me, aren't you?"

"Oooooh," Rose pretended to consider, "I dunno, Doctor. I have to tell you, I've never been a fan of bowties…" His face flooded with a grin of relief upon realising she was teasing him, and he let out a laugh as he lifted her off her feet and spun her around.

The Tenth Doctor couldn't put his finger on how he felt as he watched them. In some ways, he was happy, so, _so _happy that he had this ending waiting for him – but for now, he was like his dear Reinette, being forced to take the long road. Still, if the events that were to come would eventually lead him back here, then he couldn't question them. It was true, what he'd said to Rose: He'd wait forever for her if he had to.

"Well," he finally managed to speak, knowing that if he didn't leave now then he wouldn't ever be able to force himself to. "What a whirlwind. Rose, I'll see you in, what, four hundred years?" He asked his future self, who nodded.

"Give or take."

Ten smiled, "And I'll see _you, _well, _be_ you, in… How long?"

"Nuh uh," Eleven shook his head, "Spoilers. It'll happen when it happens."

"Fair enough." The two Doctors moved in for a hug, and the younger man couldn't help himself, whispering in Eleven's ear:

"You hold on tight to her."

"You try and stop me."

They parted with a nod, and a knowing, friendly look at the important exchange that had just passed between them, before Ten turned to Rose one final time.

"Well, this is it, then!" He forced his voice to sound brave, and she nodded, her eyes wide with the effort of holding back tears as he pulled her in for a hug beside his TARDIS.

"You be good." She told him as he held her, and he let out a laugh.

"Oh, you know that I won't. You?"

"God, I definitely won't." They pulled apart, both with watery smiles, and she reached up to move a lock of hair from his forehead. Rose knew he didn't want to hear it, that this was only going to make it more difficult, but she had to.

"I love you."

"Quite right too."

_"Doctor!"_

"Okay, I'm sorry. Tasteless. Rose, you know that I… Ugh, I've already said that I can't…" He looked so torn. But, ultimately, this was his last chance for a very, very long time. The Doctor sighed.

"Alright, Rose. I know you already know it, and _I _know that he's going to be so much better at saying it, at _showing _it than I am… But it really is my last chance to say it, as me." He leaned in close, moving her hair aside to whisper.

The Eleventh Doctor looked on, a sad smile on his face. Although he couldn't remember this moment exactly, he knew _exactly _what was being said, and how much it needed to be. That mad old self of his had never let himself confront what Rose meant to him, or so he had thought, but knowing now that he _had _said it, just the once, meant the world to him.

And then, before he knew it, Rose had kissed the man in the suit one last time, and he had turned and saluted at his future self and received the same gesture back. And then he was back in his TARDIS, and he was gone. And the Doctor was alone with Rose once more.

* * *

"So!" The Doctor bounded into the TARDIS and up the stairs, "Clara's back at school, and I've promised her another adventure sometime soon, I've done all sorts of checks and the gap in the void is _definitely _repaired so we won't have to deal with any stray Daleks wandering through… Where next?" He looked around, puzzled as to where she was, "Rose?!"

"In the wardrobe!" Came a distant shout, and indeed, he found her in the room he called a wardrobe but was closer in size to a floor of the shop where Rose had once worked.

"It took me so long to find this room again, you've turned the TARDIS into a maze! What d'you think?" She surprised him, popping out from behind a pillar with a grin on her face wearing a fez, his square framed glasses, his old faded leather jacket and his ancient long, colourful scarf.

"God. All you're doing is reminding me that I've never been as fashionable as I am now!" He said, rifling around and finally emerging with his box of assorted bow-ties. "See! Can't go wrong." She muttered something that sounded remarkably like 'uncool' under her breath, and his mouth fell open.

"I'm going to _choose _to ignore that, Tyler, unless you want to be shipped back off to that parallel world of yours?"

"Oh, nonsense. You love me too much." As soon as the casual, flirty remark had left her mouth, Rose regretted it, and froze, wondering if she had pushed him way too far too soon.

But, this was the Doctor. Her new, new, new Doctor, no longer the man who was scared of his emerging feelings for her but the man who knew exactly what they were, and had waited centuries to be able to express them.

"Yeah, you're probably right." He said after pretending to consider, grabbing the two ends of his scarf and pulling her towards him. She took off his old self's glasses to look up at him, and shrugged out of the leather jacket as he watched.

"Do you miss them?" he asked quietly, looking not at her but at the clothes he used to wear, back on their shelves.

"Of course." Rose tilted her head to one side, sliding one arm around his waist, "But it's not painful to miss them. It can't be, not when they're all in _here_." She used her other hand to gently tap him on the head, "You're here, with me, all of you. I loved the last you, and the you before that, and… Well, not _quite _so much Grandad, but," He let out a small laugh, "The point is, Doctor, you all make up the amazing person you are now. And I'm sure one day you'll be asking me if I miss the gangly one with the love for fezzes and bow ties."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows, "And what will you say to that?"

"I'll say of course I do, because I love him to death just like the rest of them."

He didn't hesitate.

"I love you too." He leaned down, his face barely an inch from hers, before he caught himself. "I'm sorry," He muttered, "Is it too fast-?" But before he could finish his sentence, or start worrying, she had pulled him down into a kiss.

"Too fast?" She murmured, "I've been waiting years for this."

"Ha! I've waited longer."

"Oh, Grandad was right, you _are _childish, making everything into a competition-"

"Says the girl who was just playing dressy-up in her spare time? I think you'll find-"

"Oh, shush." She stopped him again with a kiss, both of them smiling from ear to ear.

And there it was. The Doctor, in the TARDIS, with Rose Tyler. Just as it should be.

**The End**


End file.
